Robert Bobb isn't a name you hear around the District much anymore, even though the man affectionately known as "Bob-squared" served as City Administrator during Mayor Anthony Williams' second term and was elected to serve as president of the D.C. School Board in 2006. After having pretty much all of his authority pulled out from under him when Mayor Adrian Fenty gained control of the city's schools, Bobb pretty much disappeared from everyone's radar screen. more ›

The first installment of a two-part post previewing D.C.'s race for the newly reconfigured Board of Education. Check DCist tomorrow for the second half, including a complete rundown of the candidates. more ›

Good morning, Washington. Remember that recent weird burglary at Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry's house -- the one that Barry seemingly didn't want investigated in favor of telling the police they had more important things to do? Well, Harry Jaffe got hold of the police report, and it turns out Barry may have had good reason not to want it looked at it too closely. Apparently the former mayor had a large collection of... more ›

The D.C. Council is meeting for the final day of its summer session as we speak, and as we mentioned in this morning's roundup, a confirmation vote for deputy mayor for education Victor Reinoso has been postponed until at least September. But other key Fenty school takeover appointments are expected to be confirmed today, including Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Allen Lew, acting director of the new Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization. Yesterday, Lew... more ›

Welcome back to work, Washington. Actually, we're curious -- are any of you checking in on headlines from home today, having gone ahead and taken the rest of the week off? If so, we never liked you in the first place. Despite the tornado watch and humid, drizzly conditions, we hope you had a wonderful 4th of July celebration and of course, didn't have any fireworks-related accidents. ABC7 is reporting that at least nine people... more ›

We do hope you had a pleasant, relaxing, not too horribly hot weekend, Washington. Even if you didn't, chances are your Monday morning is shaping up to be less of a hassle than it is for the staff of Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA). Webb finally admitted over the weekend that he owns the gun that his aide, Phillip Thompson, was arrested for carrying into the Capitol in March. What kept him from clearing up... more ›

Good morning, Washington. We pestered you yesterday about your Memorial Day plans. Today, a word of warning: make sure they don't include flip-flops. As FOX5 helpfully warns us, the sandals can lead to sprains, broken bones or even the dreaded Flipflop-Induced Foot Failure Syndrome (aka FIFFS). We had no idea we were in such peril. Bad Day For Bobb: Yesterday the U.S. Senate unanimously approved Mayor Fenty's school takeover plan. Rest assured, we'll have... more ›

Well that was fast. After placing a second hold on legislation granting Mayor Adrian Fenty direct control over the District's public schools, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) this afternoon agreed to lift her hold and let the proposal move forward in the Senate. According to the Post, Landrieu did so after being assured that School Board President Robert Bobb (pictured right), who had asked for the hold, and Fenty had agreed to sit down and iron... more ›

Two senators, two holds on District legislation -- sounds like business as usual up on Capitol Hill, doesn't it? The Post brings news that Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) became the second Democratic senator to put a hold on the legislation that would formalize Mayor Adrian Fenty's bid for increased control over the city's troubled public schools. Two weeks ago, Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) used the same tactic to force the District to negotiate over the... more ›

Given that the state of the District's public schools is one of the city's most pressing problems, we were excited to see Mayor Adrian Fenty host an online chat at the Post to clarify and explain his ambitious plans for a mayoral takeover. Unfortunately, the chat ended up sounding much like most of President George W. Bush's public appearances -- staged and scrubbed free of criticism. Fenty fielded 16 questions in total, none of which... more ›

Have you been dying to get a few minutes to ask D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty questions about his controversial plan to take over the District's public schools? Washingtonpost.com will give you a chance this afternoon at 1 p.m., when they moderate an online chat with the Mayor about his proposal. You can submit your own questions for the Mayor here. We'd really like to know what the Mayor thinks about Colby King's idea to... more ›

Well D.C., if you're reading this it means you're not one of the 3000 or so people in our area currently without power. NBC4 reported the outage in Foggy Bottom last night, although they focused on the problems for four ritzy hotels, rather than the 790 other folks left in the dark. D.C. Superior Court and the D.C. Court of Appeals are also closed today due to the lack of power. Then, there's the massive... more ›

Better late than never, right? That seems to be the philosophy guiding D.C. Schools Superintendent Clifford Janey and School Board President Robert Bobb, who this week kick off a $75 million repair blitz in 70 of the city's 142 schools. Writes the Examiner on the campaign: Systems to be repaired include bathrooms, water fountains and lighting — all issues that have been identified as having the greatest impact on the students’ and teachers’ quality of... more ›

Brrrrrrrrrr. We hope you've got some layers on this morning, D.C. It's the coldest day so far this winter, with a predicted high of only 29 degrees. Sure, we were wishing for some proper winter weather for a while, but frankly this may be going just a bit too far. The bitter temperatures won't last too long, though — Saturday's high will be back up toward 50. Small Fire in Metro: We're hearing there was... more ›

Maybe the biggest news about D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's formal announcement of a planned school takeover is that it might not be news at all. Flanked by nine members of the D.C. Council -- a considerable number given that there are currently only 11 seated -- Fenty yesterday detailed his plans to hand most budgetary and management authority to a chancellor appointed by him, leaving the elected School Board to handle education policy matters. While... more ›

Batten down the hatches, Washington. Proving that no good spell of weather goes unpunished, we've now got some major storms headed our way. Two separate storm lines, to be precise, are barreling down on the metro area as we speak, the first having just begun, and the second, more powerful system, expected between noon and 5 p.m. With winds at 30 mph, we'd suggest upgrading your umbrella to something more than cheap and crappy. District... more ›

Can you stand all the excitement that comes along with sifting through so many election results, race by race, this morning Washington? For political junkies like us, and we're sure, like many of you, last night was an up way past our bedtimes, whiskey-infused, edge of our seats, shouting about the relative quality of cable news commentators' hair dye jobs kind of time. And it's not totally over yet. But before we get to the... more ›

It was on April 27, 2005, that we took our first of many stabs at the District mayoral race. And it's tomorrow, some sixteen months after we first tried to guess who would throw their hats in the ring, that voters will finally have their say. Voters in the District and Maryland go to the polls tomorrow to vote in primaries for everything from senators to council-members to ANC representatives, with more than 800 candidates... more ›

As the clock rolled through midnight, there sat Marion Barry, hunched over in his too-big suit, red Nationals cap pulled low over thick glasses, interrupting the chair. He spoke haltingly, with long pauses, as he made his roundabout point, while Linda Cropp alternately reclined in exasperation and leaned forward over the desk, glaring at him in incredulity. Barry hushed Kwame Brown and David Catania by their first names as they attempted to clarify his statement,... more ›

6:30 p.m. Man, it's been a long day. We've been shuffling to and from meetings with members of the council, trying to convince that it's now or never with this stadium lease. Cropp's working her heart out, but it seems like an uphill battle with Barry, Gray, and Brown. And every chance he gets, Fenty goes on and on about MLB's greed. I could really use a cigaratte, a beer, and a good meal. Well,... more ›

As Ryan wrote earlier this morning, much of the District went to sleep last night thinking the stadium lease had been voted down, fearing that they may wake up to MLB announcing it was defecting to across the river. And surely enough, local newspapers thought much the same -- the Examiner's headline this morning reads "Council Rejects Stadium Lease Deal; Mayor Williams Cries Foul" while the Washington Times similarly proclaimed "Council Rejects Stadium Lease." We... more ›

No, it ended up not being the Fruit Loop, the marrionberry, the coca leaf, or the half-smoke. more ›

In the past DCist has speculated on who might run for mayor. Now that the mayoral lineup has shaped up, we've got greener pastures to move on to. And given that the new biggest story in District politics is the emerging scandal of the $425 million in unauthorized payments and no-bid contracts (we're going to jump the gun here and designate it "Contract-gate"), we figure it's high time to start guessing who might face firing,... more ›

Coming straight out of left field, the Washington Times today is speculating that District City Administrator Robert Bobb is another maybe, potentially, who knows, we'll see candidate for mayor. Writes the newspaper: D.C. Democrats are talking privately about whether City Administrator Robert C. Bobb will jump into the already crowded race for mayor..."There continues to be a fair amount of discussion about Robert Bobb being a possible candidate for mayor," said Mr. Bolden, an at-large... more ›

Feeling a little squeezed in on Metro these days? It's not just your imagination -- there really are more people riding the rails these days, according to the Examiner. High gas prices have pushed more and more people onto Metro, further crowding a transit agency already experiencing record high ridership. While eight-car trains have been tested on various lines in recent weeks and used during busy weekends, the crowd-thinning longer trains won't be in full... more ›

Up and at 'em, Washington. "Early to bed / early to rise / makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," goes the saying. Well, two area initiatives are in healthier, wealthier positions this morning. First, City Administrator Robert Bobb has confirmed that D.C. will enter negotiations with Deutsche Bank for a stadium financing deal. The proposed package would apparently ease the tax burden placed on city businesses by giving the bank a piece of... more ›

Hearing on D.C. Gun Laws Tomorrow: The District's three-decade old gun laws, some of the most restrictive in the country, will be the focus of attention at a hearing of the House Government Reform Committee tomorrow. Chaired by Tom Davis (R-Va.), the committee will consider legislation put forth by Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.) that would overturn the city's gun laws and restrict the ability of the City Council to impose other controls upon gun ownership. Similar legislation was recently introduced in the Senate by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.). The list of witnesses slated to testify includes a bevy of pro- and anti-gun activists, city officials, and District residents on both sides of the issue. more ›

Councilmember Adrian Fenty continues his "Early, Often, and Crazy Ubiquitous" mayoral campaign strategy today at the Frank D. Reeves Building, where, if all goes according to plan, he will be the first candidate to officially file candidacy papers. According to the latest "Team Fenty" press release, it will all go down today at 2:00 p.m. We're guessing that Fenty's campaign is hoping for both a crowd and a handful of television cameras—two of the candidate’s most important food groups. more ›

D.C. Auditor Releases Report Critical of Mayor: In a 17-page report detailing three instances in which no-bid contracts were awarded to consultants for different city projects, D.C. Auditor Deborah K. Nichols chastised City Administrator Robert Bobb, at right, and D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams for "management behaviors that did not conform to the high ethical and professional standards expected of government officials and employees in the performance of their official duties." more ›

Two recent developments involving the long-ignored Anacostia waterfront in Southeast, pictured at left, may mark the beginning of a long-standing process to revitalize the largely industrial riverfront property. more ›